Ink fountain for printing presses



Dec. 4, 1934. o. R. WOLF INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES' Filed May 31, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 4, 1934. o. R. WOLF 1,983,115

INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 51, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 4, 1934 PATENT OFFICE.

INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES one a. Wolf, Oak Park, 111., assignor to The Tribune Company, Chicago, Ill.,,a corporation of Illinois Application May 31, 1932, Serial No. 614,383

3 Claims.

This invention relates to inking mechanism for printing presses and particularly to certain improvements in the construction of ink fountains of the over-shut type.

Fountains of the over-shut type are generally preferred to those of the under-shut type for the reason that in the case of the latter'it is diliicult to keep the ink from leaking out through the bottom of the fountain between the scraper knife and the fountain roller. However, the over-shut fountain, as constructed at the present time, is quite inaccessible, since it is almost completely closed at the top by the scraper knife and knife-adjustment assembly. This inaccessibility makes the fountain very difiicult to clean.

1 The importance of this difficulty has recently been increased since in the operation of modern newspaper presses it frequently becomes necessary to change the color of the ink in certain of the fountains, and where the usual over-shut type of fountain is used a considerable amount of time is required to clean the fountain for each change.

The object of my invention is to provide an over-shut fountain construction in which the scraper knife supporting and adjustment assembly is constructed and arranged so that it may be swung away from the ink trough, thereby rendering the fountain readily accessible for cleaning, means being also provided for accuratelyrelocating and firmly holding said assembly when it is returned to normal operating position. 1

The invention will be fully understood from the followingdetailed description, which, taken in-connection-with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an over-shut fountain construction in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the fountain taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

The fountain construction comprises: an ink trough 5, provided at its opposite ends with depending brackets 6, which are adapted to conmet with the uprights of the press frame; a

fountain roller 7, positioned in the ink trough near the back portion of the fountain and journaled at its opposite ends in the end walls of the trough; a casting 8 mounted above the ink trough adjacent roller 7; a scraper knife 9 removably secured to the bottom of thecasting 8 by a clamp bar 11 and a series of clamping bolts 12; knife adjusting elements (to be later described) carried'by the casting 8; and a fountain cover plate 14 positioned on the top of the ink trough between the front edge of the casting 8 and the adjacent side wall of the trough.

The fountain supporting brackets 6 are bolted to the uprights of the press frame in position to hold fountain roller '7 in operative engagement with one of the ink rollers of the press inking unit. The complete inking mechanism, or ink motion, including the several ink rollers, the ink drum, and the drive means therefor, is not shown since the construction of these parts and their relation to the fountain roller is well understood in the art. i

The knife adjusting elements comprise: a series of spaced adjusting screws 15 (one shown) mounted in an interiorly shouldered wall portion 16 of the casting 8 and positioned to engage at their lower ends against the upper face of '7] scraper knife 9; and a series of rods 17 (one shown) provided at their inner ends with worms 18 which mesh with worm wheels 19 carried on theupper ends of screws 15.

The adjusting screws 15 are spaced at regular intervals across the upper face of the scraper knife, and rods 17 are supported at their outer ends in key plates 21, the outer ends of said rods being squared, as indicated at 22, to fit into; the socket of an adjusting key. Index plates 23 are supportedabove plates 21, to indicate the order in which rods 1'7 connect with the various adjusting screws 15. The inner ends of rods 17 are held to the upper ends of screws 15 by Ushaped clamp pieces 24 which are bent around the ends of rods 51 17 and which are slotted, as indicated at 25 (Fig. 1), to receive the upper ends of screws 15. The adjustment assembly is enclosed by a top cover plate 26 which is secured alongv one edge to the wall 16 and at the other edge to an opposite wall 27 on the casting 8.

In the form of over-shut fountain which has heretofore been used, the knife adjustment assembly is permanently secured in position so that access cannot be had to the fountain from the 211m top, except through the narrow space which is closed by the fountain cover plate 14. It is therefore very difficult to clean the bottom of the ink trough when it is desired to do so for the purpose of changing the color of the ink or for other reasons. In accordance with my invention the entire knife supporting and adjustment assembly is constructed and mounted so that it may be freed and swung away from the trough when desired, thereby giving free access to the 1111361101;"1 10 of the fountain. The construction whereby this is accomplished in the embodiment of the inven tion shown in the drawings is duplicated for each end of the fountain and comprises a bracket 28 connected by bolts 29 to the end of the casting 8, and a second bracket 31, the latter being connected by bolts 32 to the end wall of trough 5. Bracket 28 projects rearwardly beyond the edge of the casting 8, the free end thereof being curved upwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Bracket 31 is mounted at an angle as shown in Fig. 2 and the free end thereof is pivotally connected with the free end of the bracket 28 by a'stub shaft .33 which extends through bearings 34 and 35 formed on the ends of said brackets '28 and 31, respectively. Shaft 33 is held in place in bearing 35 by a pin 36 which may be withdrawn when desired to allow removal of said shaft.

It will be noted that shafts 33 are positioned above and approximately in line with the axis of the fountain roller. This arrangement makes it possible to swing the knife-adjustment assembly upwardly over the fountain roller, the complete unit being thus carried away from the fountain to give free access to the interior of the latter. To facilitate raising and lowering of the knife assembly, the brackets 28 are provided at their forward ends with lugs 30 having sockets 3'? formed therein for receiving the ends of lifting rods (not shown).

To move the scraper knife assembly to open position it is merely necessary to insert lifting rods into sockets 3'7, and to lift the casting 8, and the mechanism supported thereon, upwardly in manner which will be apparent from Fig. 3 of the drawings. After the unit has been swung over the pivots 33 it will hold itself in open position against a suitable stop which may be provided on the press frame. Upon returning the hinged unit to the normal position, it may be ac curately located, so as to position the knife 9 in exact relationship to the roller 7, by means of tapered dowel pins 38 extending through the bottom of the casting 8 and adapted to enter holes 39 in the end walls of the fountain. It will be evident that when said pins are pressed or driven home in said holes they will accurately relocate the casting 8 on the fountain, causing the knife 9 to assume proper relationship to the roller 7, which relationship, as will be understood, must be very exact and capable of nice adjustment in order that the roller 7 may apply exactly the right amount of ink to the rollers of the ink motion as previously mentioned. When the casting 8 has been properly located or centered, it may be secured in position by means of butterfly screw Letters Patent is 1. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising an ink trough, a fountain roller journalled therein, a scraper knife adjustable from the end of the fountain, a knife-supporting and adjusting assembly pivotally mounted above the trough, said assembly being adapted to be swung on its pivots away from the trough when desired to afford ready access to the interior of the trough, and means for accurately relocating said assembly when returned to normal position to thereby cause said knife to assume an exact predetermined relationship to said roller.

2. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising an ink trough, a fountain roller journaled therein, a scraper knife, a knife supporting and adjusting assembly pivotally mounted above the trough, said assembly being adapted to be swung on its pivots away from the trough when desired to afford ready access to the interior of the trough, and means for accurately relocating said assembly when returned to normal position to thereby cause said knife to assume an exact pre- 11g determined relationship to said roller, said lastmentioned means comprising tapered dowel pins carried by said knife assembly and said trough having holes therein adapted to receive said pins and to co-operate therewith in centering said 1 5 assembly on the trough.

3. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising an ink trough, a fountain roller journaled therein, a scraper knife adjustable from the end of the fountain, a knife supporting and adjusting assembly pivotally mounted above the trough, said assembly being adapted to be swung on its pivots away from the trough when desired to afford ready access to the interior of the trough, means for accurately relocating said assembly when returned to normal position to thereby cause said knife to assume an exact predetermined relationship to said roller, and means for fixedly securing said assembly to the trough.

OTTO R. WOLF. 

